Arc Fatigue : One of the major criticisms against the relay of the series is that the plot became more episodic and introduced spin-offs with more characters and sideplots (Kriss' redemption quest, a war against a Christian emperor, Louve's adventures, Aaricia's new boyfriend,...) while the main story is still unfinished. For instance Kahaniel's resurrection, announced in the 2007 book, only happens in 2013. And the following volume, The Scarlet Fire, was not published until November 2016.
Ass Pull: In the second book focusing on Louve, we learned that Aaricia has a magical collar inherited from her mother. It had never been mentioned in the whole main series.
Nidhogg, the divine snake with twelve tails, is the ill-chosen guardian of the Yggdrasil tree. Having won a round of checkers with Ivaldir, the king of dwarves, Nidhogg claims the latter's name and kingdom should the king fail within 1,000 years to bring a "metal that doesn't exist", enjoying his desperation. When the child Thorgal tries to reach the dwarves, the snake fights him and eventually impales him on a blade. Years later, Nidhogg plots his revenge by sending Volsung to seduce the Guardian of the Keys and steal her magical belt. With it, Nidhogg intends to open the gates of all dimensions and cast all of them in an everlasting war that will cause the end of all creation. After Volsung betrays him, Nidhogg abducts the Guardian and threatens to crush her should he not get the belt. Exiled to the In-Between World, Nidhogg takes Volsung with him and curses him with immortality and a grotesque form. When the dwarf Thjazi and Wolfcub, the teenage daughter of Thorgal, request his help to defeat the dark elves who threatens the worlds in exchange with freedom, Nidhogg scoffs and immediately tries to devour them both and prevent them from saving the realms.
The Three Elders of Aran: The Benevolent Ones are the greedy and immortal trio who took over the land of Aran and turned the population into zombies, forcing them to extract the gold deposits in the surrounding mountains for generations. Every hundred years, the old men abduct and brainwash an innocent woman, then organize a perilous tournament where the survivor would be promised the hand of the lady and the throne of the land. In actuality, it's a scheme to send the winner back in time and retrieve from their younger selves a flask of the Water of the Night of Time that prolongs their life for another century. Once the winner returns to the present, he's promptly eliminated. Having pulled the plan for a thousand years by the time they abduct Aaricia, the Benevolent Ones scoff at Thorgal's morals when he finds out the truth.
Volsung of Nichor, in contrast to the many complex and sympathetic villains, is a thuggish coward and all-around scumbag. After participating in the tournament of Aran during which he killed a man by shooting an arrow in the back, Volsung is released from his prison by the evil deity Nidhogg. Given Thorgal's form, Volsung seduces a deity in love with Thorgal, in order to sleep with her and steal her magic belt. Granted immortality and invulnerability, Volsung murders Thorgal and takes over his life while trying to eventually rape Thorgal's wife Aaricia and threatening to murder Thorgal's baby daughter Wolfcub. Volsung then gleefully murders the Viking chief, rapes his wife and usurps power by threatening the great council, with the goal of conquering the whole world. Defeated, Volsung uses Thorgal's young son Jolan as a hostage. Years later, when a teenage Wolfcub and the dwarf Thjazi break into his and Nidhogg's prison, Volsung suggests his cellmate torture them both to pass the time.
The Kingdom Beneath the Sand: Contarch Sargon is an Atlantean supremacist who wants to conquer the world and subdue humanity. Sargon usurped and murdered Alcyor, the previous leader of his colony, by casting him in a perilous labyrinth because Alcyor wanted to live in peace with the Earthlings. Sargon also condemns his opponents and Alcyor's teenage son Tiago to the same fate. Holding Thorgal's wife and their young children hostage, Sargon attempts to coerce the hero into helping him to pose his men as gods so they can manipulate the Vikings into fighting for them. Eventually, Sargon sentences Thorgal, his family and the rebel Chrysios to die in the maze, only sparing the young Ileniya because he wants her to bear him children.
Thorgal: Au-delà des ombres (Beyond the Shadows) novel, by Amélie Sarn: Shardar-The-Almighty, tyrant of Brek Zarith, is even worse than his comic incarnation. Usurping the throne after poisoning the former lord, Shardar led the purge of his family, only sparing Galathorn as a child to mold him as his plaything and kept him imprisoned till adulthood. Once tired of him, Shardar tried to have him executed. Shardar is also a Mad Scientist who regularly uses his subjects as fodder for drugs, poisons and torture devices in his quest of knowledge and power. Holding Aaricia and her son Jolan hostage for years, he would often experiment on the boy for his Psychic Powers. The tyrant also keeps a harem of unwilling young girls and forces Aaricia to watch as he burns the Vikings' longships. Besieged by the rebellion, Shardar poisons his entire court and destroys all his treasures, leaving the kingdom bankrupt, hoping that, to restore it, Galathorn will be forced to become as big a tyrant as him, while he escapes and plans to start a new conquest, using Jolan's psychic powers after getting rid of Aaricia. Outplayed by the latter, he attempts to torture her to draw her son nearby. Unlike his original incarnation who mourns his son, he reacts to his death with indifference instead and is even revealed to have murdered said son's mother while she was giving birth.
Crack Pairing: Vigrid and the Key Guardian in the second album of Louve. Who would have ever thought?
Fanon Discontinuity: The Kingdom under the Sands is by far the least popular album. Besides this, some fans think the series should have ended with the Qa story, the Shaigan story or when Van Hamme gave up the franchise.
Funny Moments: A young Jolan learns that his magic powers make him a god, and claims that his father has no power over him. Thorgal counters that he does have one power...
Jolan: Oh yeah? What can you do? Thorgal: This. (hauls Jolan over his knee and spanks him)
Growing the Beard: The Betrayed Sorceress isn't bad but the story is nothing special and feels rushed. The Island of Frozen Seas that reveals Thorgal's backstory is a significant improvement. The Black Galley with its dramatic ending further sets the tone of the series. Finally The Archers, the most popular book, introduces fan favorite Kriss of Valnor and starts the Qa cycle. Rosinski also gradually improved his art.
Jerkass Woobie: Kriss. Imagine being in love with a married man whom you hate.
Older Than They Think: Gandalf-the-mad's name is NOT taken from the Lord of the Rings character. Both characters take their name from a dwarf in the Poetic Edda.
Padding: In "The Fall of Brek Zarith", a full page is just about Thorgal meeting a monster armed with a sword, fighting it and killing it. You know, just... for action.
The books after the Shaigan arc are generally considered to be subpars as Thorgal and his familly have rather forgettable and inconsequential adventures. The Kingdom under the Sands with its uncharismatic villains is often considered to be the nadir of the Van Hamme run. Thankfully The Barbarian and Kriss Of Valnor are returns to form.
The Yves Sente run from I, Jolan to Kah-Aniel also divides longtime fans who criticize the shifts in characterization, the many retcons and are frustrated about how dragged-out the Red Mages arc is.
